Dmitry Medvedev: To define blockchain rigorously is to make it rigid

February 1, 2019

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated that consideration needs to be given to whether “rigorous definition of blockchain” should be enshrined in the law or not. He opined that excessive regulatory restrictions could make the phenomenon of blockchain “more rigid”. Russian PM believes that the adoption of international documents in the digital sphere is more important nowadays.

“Though I’m a trained jurist with juridical mindset, my opinion is that there is, of course, a need in some regulation in digital sphere, but it is really important not to get carried away here,” – the official stated, while speaking at the plenary session of the “Digital agenda in the era of globalization 2.0 Eurasian Innovative Ecosystem” forum.

Medvedev suggested that participants should give a thought to whether it is helpful to “define blockchain in rigid terms”.

“As soon as we squeeze some phenomenon in a regulatory framework, we make it more rigid. This is why we should not lock creativity in excessive regulation,” – the PM stressed.

He also opined that regulation in the digital sphere “should be international to the extent possible”. Medvedev recalled that two previous centuries saw mankind elaborating numerous conventions, and added that in the era of digitalization documents of such kind would be of much greater importance, compared to international copyright conventions of XIX-XX centuries.

“Moreover, copyright is, in fact, gradually dying out against the background of growing digitalization, sadly for the authors,” – Medvedev noted.

Commenting on the proposals for various ways of digital development voiced by forum participants, Medvedev noted that Russia’s authorities are not opposed to one or another direction. He concluded by jokingly quoting Mao Zedong:

“We are all open-minded people in this respect. “Let a hundred flowers bloom,” – as one classic used to put it. It didn’t exactly end well with them, however.”

Dmitry Medvedev has been actively commenting on the agenda related to digital economy. For instance, last month, he projected that “70% of state services for businesses and individuals will be digitalized by 2024”.